Lost in the Moonlight
by LostInTheThicket
Summary: After infiltrating a major Shadaloo base for information, a bruised but superpowered agent of SHIELD must withstand the fury of the Dolls' infamous, deadly leader Decapre. However, a chance meeting causes her to recall a suppressed memory, offering a chance for a deeper connection to be made. Set shortly before A Shadow Falls from Street Fighter V and my mainline fic, The Calling.


_**The S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia is owned by Marvel. Decapre and Shadaloo are owned by Capcom. Mickey solely belongs to yours truly.**_

* * *

 _ **I always thought Decapre needs love. The poor kinda-robotic girl needs it. And if you've checked out Portal Pals - which you should - then you know what I always believe in. Opposites attract. Hope you enjoy reading this. Less than 3.**_

* * *

It's a cool, crisp summer night in Toronto as **Michaël 'Mickey' Villanueva** rushes past dimly-lit alleys and curving city blocks. Dirty, visibly wounded and tired as hell, he zips through the night as he hears footsteps close by. He senses the distance between him and by channelling his powers over sound, his hearing picks up his stalker while the wind picks up.

 _'Twenty feet away? Hard to tell. Shit…she's fast.'_

Mickey turns his head to see a shadow catching up to him. Using his freerunning skills as a young criminal, he leaps over a railing and darts into a shortcut, leading to the run-down school serving as his makeshift hideout. He takes a second to relax and catch his breath.

"I lost her," he says, panting. "Good."

As he observes the school, he spots his friend – the stray beagle **Elvira** – waiting for him as she barks, happily wagging her tail. Delighted to see her again, Mickey checks a nasty scar on his leg as he makes his way to the school's doors.

"Damn." Mickey winces. "She's ruthless, too. Just as fast as that damn Spider—"

Before he can even finish his sentence, Mickey stops, glancing up to see the same shadow emerge from the darkness.

Standing between Mickey and the school, the infamous leader of the Dolls, **Decapre** , steps forward. She glares at Mickey behind her visor, neon pink lines illuminating with power. With her target in range, she unsheathes her powered-up daggers.

"Infiltrator located," Decapre says, her voice confident, her Russian accent monotone yet cool as the breeze. "Commencing comprehensive annihilation."

With a crouch, she suddenly lunges towards Mickey.

Trying to stop Decapre from attacking him, Mickey harnesses the sound of the wind whipping around them to form a sonic shield. He watches the Shadaloo assassin attempting to use her superior speed and ferocity to pierce his shield, but it remains around him, its bubble-like shape warbling ever so.

Mickey looks at Decapre with a sheepish grin, watching her grit her teeth, dedicated to ending him. "Wait! I just wanted information! I didn't mean to…" He shakes his head. "Okay, I _did_ knock those dumbasses out. But I ain't got a problem with you..."

Decapre dashes back and releases an enormous, circular stream of Psycho Power in her hand, using her attack against the shield.

"Lie detected," she says, coldly. The projectile starts to crack the shield, but it fades away before the shield is destroyed. "Psycho Stream unsuccessful. Stinger Protocol activated."

Mickey tries to laugh the tension away with an ill-timed joke. "I guess there's no chance we can settle this with a song and dance routine, is there?"

Decapre scowls as the Psycho Power in her daggers intensifies. Roaring with intensity, she destroys the shield with super-quick jabs. However, Mickey snaps as the sonic energy releases, propelling Mickey away from the enraged Doll. Decapre's expression doesn't change, but she tilts her head.

"Data involving sonic energy acquired," she notes to herself, walking menacingly towards Mickey.

Preparing to fight, Mickey shifts into his fighting stance before the fighters hear barking and whimpering nearby. "Damn."

Decapre whips around to see Elvira whimper, barking mercilessly at her. Surprisingly, the stone-faced assassin has a moment of weakness as she admires the cute dog.

"Canine spotted. Breed: beagle. Subject…endearing," she utters, slowly tilting her head as she admires the beagle.

Elvira steps back as Mickey spots a moment of opportunity. Homing in on his pet's worried whimpers, he dematerializes into sonic wisps of energy and enters the school.

Noticing the strange trails, Decapre uses her data to identify Mickey. Racing throughout the school, she runs on the railings, following him up flights of stairs and around the corner. Seeing the wisps dart under a classroom, the Shadaloo assassin opens the door with force. Decapre spots Mickey shielding Elvira from her as the beagle moves away from him, barking incessantly at her.

"Ellie, stop! It's too dangerous," Mickey yells, trying – and failing – to catch her attention.

In a defensive stance, Elvira growls as she slowly wags her tail, barking angrily at Decapre.

Mickey curses under his breath, seeing Decapre advance. _'Scheisse, I can't let that woman kill her.'_

He starts to hum, creating two blue-and-white sonic spheres of energy as they slowly form in his hands. However, he stops, seeing something else...

Decapre – known by many to be the crazed Shadaloo assassin – is silent. She stares at Elvira while her lip quivers. The beagle's pose brings back thoughts of chasing her sworn enemy, Cammy White, some time ago…

* * *

 _During the end of a daytime chase, Decapre cornered Cammy in an alley as she wound up like a coiled snake, ready to defend herself, if need be. However, a stray tabby cat made her presence known from a garbage can, striding in the middle of the two enemies. Enraged, she moved closer to Cammy without even acknowledging the feline's presence._

 _Cammy, though, stopped her._ _"It's okay. The poor thing can't hurt you," she said as she stared at Decapre, smiling warmly. "It's alright."_

 _She held the cat in front of Decapre, its green eyes piercing through her soul, similar to Cammy's eyes of sapphire._

 _With her daggers unsheathed, Decapre panicked, trying to accomplish her mission. However, she stared at Cammy, freezing in place; thoughts violently assaulted her mind as she mumbled, hearing that specific phrase._

 _"T-those words…No! Silence…must kill you…must gut Killer Bee!"_

 _Cammy tried to step closer, a sad look on her face. "Please, Decapre. Fight it."_

 _"No! I…Little s-sister. I_ _ _…_ "  
_

* * *

"It's alright."

Decapre snaps out of it, hearing Mickey repeat Cammy's words. She finds herself kneeling on the dusty wooden floor of the classroom, seeing Mickey hold Elvira out in front of him.

Mickey smiles, hoping his words and his actions brighten Decapre's sour mood. "Elvira won't bite."

"No." Decapre shakes her head. "Infiltrator. Must kill…must kill you…"

"Hey! Hey, it's alright—"

Decapre shoots back, aiming a dogged finger at Mickey's face while her eyes start to emit a purple glow. "No. It's not alright! You _lie!"_

"Not this time." Mickey shakes his head, raising Elvira, trying to give her to Decapre. He frowns hearing the beagle whimper, seemingly doggy-paddling away from Decapre in the air.

A slow, eerie smile appears on Decapre's face before she removes it, glaring at Mickey. Suddenly, she spots something familiar on the ground.

Her mask.

"Looking for that?" Mickey teases, waving Elvira side-to-side. "Hold her and I'll give it to you."

Decapre freezes before brandishing one of her daggers. Her head down, she plays possum before beginning to strike…

 **(Now Playing: Careless Whisper by George Michael)**

Suddenly, Decapre stops, hearing a strange, melodic tune playing in the room.

She sees Mickey humming along to it, slowly rocking Elvira from side-to-side. The beagle's tongue sticks out as Mickey's rarely-used empathic voice starts to soothe her.

 _'Didn't want to have to use this,'_ Mickey thought to himself, seeing his powers work their magic.

Despite the harsh training and tutelage under M. Bison's reign, Mickey's empathic abilities causes Decapre to calm down, temporarily incapacitated. Staring at Elvira, her amber eyes twinkle under the moonlight as she holds the beagle.

"No! Must obey…must kill Infiltrator." Decapre tries to clear her mind. "…For Shadaloo. I…m-must…"

"It's okay. Don't worry. It's okay." Mickey raises a hand as he politely interrupts her. "You're with friends now. I know that feeling. The anger. The bitterness. Sometimes, you just gotta take it easy."

Decapre's stare shifts from Mickey to Elvira as the dog's funny face causes her to smile a little. She pets the dog as Elvira snuggles up beside her. Still sensing her struggle, Mickey notices burns on the left side of the Doll's face. Seeing him trying to reach for it, Decapre reels back, her expression changed to a scowl.

Mickey pauses, slowly leaning back. "I don't want to do anything you don't wanna do. Can I?" He leans forward in a polite manner. "…Sorry. _May_ I?"

Decapre - silent, wound up, and confused - simply stays in place, shifting slowly to the side with pursed lips.

Seeing her acquiesce and relax for a little bit, Mickey obliges, gently feeling her burn scar. "I hope this doesn't hurt you, _meine Freundin_. Whoever did this to you needs an ass-kicking."

Taking a second to recoil from Mickey's words, Decapre stares into his eyes while the song continues. She raises her hand, presumably to take his hand away.

 _In doing so, their hands touch_.

Noticing this, the two stare at each other for quite a while.

Completely dropping his walls for a bit, Mickey blushes. Despite Decapre's cold, ruthless attitude towards him and her facial scar, the beautiful woman in front of him tries to smile as she notices Elvira nuzzling up to her. However, he also sees a sliver of a woman trying to cope, trying her best to hold back feelings of rage. He frowns, a knowing expression on his face as he takes in Decapre's amber eyes.

Mickey stares at the ground, unable to speak. _'_ _…For a lady that talks like a robot, s-she's pretty beautiful,'_ he thinks to himself. _'_ _Why do I always fall for the women that can kick my ass?'_

Seeing Mickey's eyes waver, Decapre notices a single scar across his right cheek. Hesitant to do so, she places a finger on his scar. Her thoughts from her meetings with Cammy cloud her mind, filling it with similar emotions. Decapre runs her finger over it while the song ends. A soft, strangely soothing tone to her voice follows, seemingly and temporarily fighting Bison's mind control.

"Are you _…o-okay?_ Does…does it hurt?" Decapre strains to say, thinking of Cammy's similar scar. "Did…did I…"

Strangely enough, a piece of her chaotic mind, unbeknownst to Mickey, starts to focus on him, fascinated, nervous, and unsure of who - or what - he is.

Mickey stares at her, looking into her eyes.

"No. Not you." Shaking his head before he thinks again, Mickey nervously shrugs while he answers Decapre's question. "Uh, n-not really. Heh, you should see what happened to those other guys. It's _…_ it's crazy, _meine Freundin."_

He chuckles as he tries to act modestly. Unsurprisingly, Decapre looks at him and doesn't react.

The two fighters sit with only Elvira between them, resting together on the wooden floor under the moonlight. Mickey softly rubs Decapre's cheek as she does the same. In Decapre's mind, thoughts of a possible link between the strange man and Cammy flood her mind while their eyes meet once more. In Mickey's mind, he wonders about the peculiar woman's story, finding a way to prevent her anger from consuming her.

Decapre speaks. "I-Infiltrator _…"_

"Yeah?" Mickey says with a smile.

"…M-my head. Re _…request_ _…"_

Trying to fight the mind control, Decapre shakes her head, shivering before Mickey calms her down.

"Hey, it's okay. No one's going to hurt you here," he says with a smile, holding and rubbing Decapre's cheeks. Decapre, now in control, stares at Mickey while he blushes. "Um _…let's_ start off on the good foot, huh? I-I'm Mickey. You?"

Decapre takes a second to reply, stunned and somewhat distraught that for the first time in a long time, someone other than Cammy cares about her. She holds the back of Mickey's hands with a sorrowful look on her face.

" _…_ De-"

Before she can reply, a burst of sudden Psycho Power immediately flows out of Decapre, overwhelming her. Recoiling in pain and wrath, she darts out of the classroom as she swipes her mask from Mickey. Decapre dashes to the stairs leading to the entrance, her mind hazy with rage from an unknown source.

"Wait. Hey! Are you okay?" Mickey tries to catch up to Decapre, but he sees her staggering outside the school's doors.

Elvira follows, stopping next to him, spotting Decapre as she barks and wags her tail. Taking one last look at the two, Decapre turns her head to smile at the beagle. Her gaze now aimed at Mickey, a weird smirk starts to form on her face, suppressing the mind control for a bit. It's a slightly disturbing, but eerily teasing smirk, one that starts to spook him.

"Infiltrator data recorded," Decapre utters. "Level of skill _…_ unclear. Updating Infiltrator's chances of surviving next assault _._ " She looks off to the side before smiling with malevolence towards him. "Infiltrator's chances now set at three percent."

Decapre darts out of the school and into the night. Mickey slowly smiles before realizing her unorthodox teasing.

"Wait. Did she just say I'm weak?" He turns to Elvira as the beagle tilts her head. " _…Hey!_ I'm not-Oh, forget it, she's gone."

They make their way back to the classroom as Mickey takes a peculiar device - a datapad, hidden in another part of the room. Looking at the window to spot Decapre darting from rooftop to rooftop, he sees her stop, giving him one last, soft smile before the mind control sets in. She frowns, putting on her mask and retreating into the night.

Mickey smiles and then frowns. He records Decapre's appearance, fighting style, and abilities.

 _'A bit…aggressive but she shows great potential,_ he jots down, echoing the words in his mind. _She could be a damn good S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but her mental state has me worried. Shadaloo.'_ His frown deepens, clutching his pen in anger. _'_ _…_ _W_ _hat the hell did you do to her?'_

Mickey looks up at the sky as Elvira sits next to him. _'Dee._ _I h_ _ope I see you again.'_

He smiles softly while the silver S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on the back of the datapad glistens under the light of the moon.

 _'Heh. Three percent, my ass.'_

 _ **The End**_


End file.
